GONE FISHING

I'm headed out fishing and crabing at Indian River,Delaware. I'll try posting pics. and reports.
Feel free to post your fishing pics. and reports also

Hey Dennis,

I may be joining you outside the inlet soon.......



Had this delivery driver come in telling me that he wanted to sell his boat. A 20' Wellcraft V 20 Steplift with a 175 HP Mariner sitting on a 2 axle trailer.
This he said while I was writing an estimate for damages to his truck.

So today he shows up with the truck towing the boat. I ask him how much and he says well, you quoted me xx.xx for the repairs to the truck, how about we do a switch for the services ???


Yep sounds good to me !!!! In fact, hell yeah for what I quoted !!!!!


It will need some buffing and some minor repairs but with 38 gallons of built in tanks + whatever else I add, I should be good for the lightship !!!

And the wife approves. Who the hell would have ever thought that ?? I damn near fell over when she said good job.........


Flounder and bluefish beware. I'm back and with a vengeance !!!!!!!!




Rick

Nice solid boat to go thru the inlet.I only have a 14-1/2' boat and stay in the bays.That a rough and snotty ride up the coast to the lightship,we always trailer up to lewes and in put in there rather than being beat up for an hour up than an hour back and having to deal with going thru that nasty inlet.Make sure you clean and flush the tanks and always carry a spare filter/water seperator with tools needed to replace them.The bays didn't change too much this winter,just keep an eye where everyone else picks up and look for the sand bars.The last couple years the deeper sections went from 8' to 2 ' instantly,look for the scum line.Theres not a place I can't go with my little boat.I only need 8" of water.

WOW!! SWEET score Rick!!! How mint is that deal??

My ol' man finally picked up an ocean going vessle a few years back. Been talking about it since he got rid of the last one back when I was still crawling around ... completely sober. It's a Sea Fox with a 150 Merc. I'd have gone bigger engine wise on something that size, but it'll do 40 with 100 gallons of fuel on board. Can't complain. Had lots of issues with it during break-in though ... luckily covered under warranty.

Just sold the little 9.9 Merc. he had on his smaller 14' aluminum boat. Gotta love Craigslist! So he picked up a 20 HP Suzuki. Fuel injected with a pull start! Pretty cool setup, although I prefer a carburetor any day. Great for him though - starts first pull EVERY time unlike that Mercury.


You want sticker shock? Go price a NEW 175 horse motor!!! Holy crapper you'd think it was carved from a gold nugget!

Oh and the technology is crazy today - grab yourself a depth finder and it'll tell you where you are, how fast your going, where you;ve been, where the fish are, AND where you SHOULDN'T be. Best thing ever .. but like motorcycle parts, nothing is cheap.

Dennis,

I was referring to the old DE Lightship which is now just a big old buoy. I think the official name is "D" buoy. It is 18 1/2 miles due southeast out of the inlet. It used to be serviced by that old steel hull boat that now resides up in Lewes. But everyone still refers to the buoy as "the lightship." Coming from the southeast along the coast, this is the first buoy for big ships approaching DE Bay. Starts with "D" buoy, the DA buoy, then DB or "B" buoy, then DC or the HC Buoy (been a while) then the entrance to the DE bay near the ice breakers.

That used to be my old stomping grounds. Every weekend out there trolling up and down the coast.

Smitty, my old boat was a 1974 Wellcraft Airslot 24 with twin 140 HP Mercruisers. They were the old "Iron Duke" 4 cylinders. The 120 hp version had 3 1/2 pistons but the 140 hp had 4" pistons. Carried 120 gallons in a belly tank. Made it out 65 miles one day. To the tip of the Baltimore Canyon. Looking for tuna, marlin, etc. Still have all the old gear from the boat. Actually have the boat but the transom rotted out of it due to manufacturer's defect in not sealing the plywood totally with fiberglass. One day I will restore her to her glory. Just need a garage to get her inside to do the repairs. May now have the garage but need the time........

After the transom issue we decided to downsize and fish the back bays. Too damn much fishing pressure is forcing me back out into the blue water. And I can't friggin' wait !!!

Dennis, I'll let you know the launch date. Hopefully in the next 2 months in time for some good fishing. Now if only the fuel costs can go down some more, that would be sweet...

And yeah Smitty, it was a deal I couldn't pass up. I almost pissed myself when he offered it to me at that price.................



Rick